Reading Response: Graphic Design

The process of graphics that is talked about in the reading is very similar to the process we followed in class – we used mood board for brainstorming and mind-mapping, and iterated several different versions of our project or interface. I enjoyed this process, because it allows the designer to see multiple paths the projects could take, rather than just one. The process of brainstorming and iterating, coupled with mood boards, allows for the designer to mentally visualize multiple possibilities of a project, and then from there, pick the one that is most pleasing.

I think this process makes the design process a lot more creative, because essentially, the designer is creating multiple versions of the same product, and then choosing the best one. For example, a logo designer who follows this process can end up designing a dozen logos, and then out of them, picking the one the designer deems best.

In addition, the thing about the website that stood out the most, is the idea of “Rhetorical Figures”. The author, I think, makes a very good case for how visual design intertwines with rhetoric in terms of language, writing, and poetry. By doing so, the author adds another level of complexity, and thus, beauty, to visual design, by giving it a philosophical depth. I very much agree with the argument that design can be thought of in terms of pathos, ethos, and logos, because design is a form of communication, and all communication contains some core rhetorical argument.

I do think, however, that the author could’ve (nay, should’ve) given more details about the role rhetoric plays in graphic design. It’s a very complex idea, with philosophical implications that could’ve been expanded to include the whole of graphic design as a form of art and expression.